Emma Paton halts Premier League coverage to send heartfelt message to Mark Webster
Darts presenter Emma Paton gave an emotional update about colleague Mark Webster's absence as he deals with a health condition.
On Thursday night, Stephen Bunting picked up a much-needed win during night four of the Premier League darts event in Belfast's SSE Arena.
'The Bullet' was in fine form all evening, beating defending champion Luke Humphries, Jonny Clayton and Gian van Veen, with his win coming came just hours after local hero Josh Rock scored an incredible nine-darter.
As always, popular pundit Paton provided coverage of the evening's actions for Sky Sports, as she typically does for the Premier League and other major events such as the World Darts Championship.
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However, Paton was without Welsh former BDO World Champion Webster, as she gave an emotional update on the pundit's health during her coverage.
Webster is a key part of Sky Sports' broadcasting line-up, working alongside Paton to cover the biggest events of the year.
But on Wednesday, his management team confirmed that he would be taking a step away from broadcasting for a period as he deals with an undisclosed medical condition.
Fans watching Sky's coverage of Thursday night’s Premier League Darts in Belfast were quick to notice Webster's absence, but Paton took the time to update everyone on how the darts punditry legend was doing.
Speaking of the evening’s opening match between Luke Littler and Jonny Clayton, she said: “You might have noticed the past couple of weeks that one of Jonny’s best friends and part of our family here at Sky Sports Darts, Mark Webster, has been absent.
“He is currently undergoing treatment and won’t be part of our coverage for a little while.”
She then followed up the update with a message directly to Webster, adding: “Webby, I know you’re watching, we love you very much and we will see you when you return.”
Announcing Webster's need to take some time away from punditry, Modus, who look after many professional darts players, took to social media and wrote: “On behalf of Mark Webster, MODUS Sports Management can confirm that Mark will be taking a short break from his broadcasting duties, due to a personal medical condition.
“We please ask that you respect Mark’s privacy at this time.”
Topics: Darts, Sky Sports
Ben McCrum